The Science of Deduction
by The Mini Assassin
Summary: Case File: The Big Swinger. Case Type: Murder, Obviously. Case Description: Man and Woman found dead in apartment. I sure hope this doesn't end up on John's darn blog.
1. The Obvious Things

I do not own Sherlock or any of the characters featured in/or contained in the series. Please review if you want another chapter.

The Science of Deduction

Woke up. Got out of bed. Clock reads 7:00 am. Nice early start.  
Watson was up already, not surprising.  
Mrs. Hudson gave me a cup of tea, no sugar, again. Told Mrs. Hudson that I wanted sugar in my tea. Told me she wasn't my housemaid. Questioned her on why she made me the tea in the first place if she wasn't my housemaid. No response.  
John told me we had a case. Got dressed. Quickly ate down a croissant. Hopped into a taxi.

Met Detective Lestrade outside 32 Collins Street. Small, quaint street. Slightly posh. Not to rich, but not middle class either.  
Walked to the front door, John and Lestrade not far behind. Entered the house. Small foyer.  
Followed Lestrade down hallway into bedroom.  
Man lying face down on the floor, dead, obviously. Bent down next to the body. Blunt force trauma to the head. Wrench, hammer, baseball bat. Most likely the latter of the options.

And this brings us to step one of the Science of Deduction:

#1 Take note of the obvious things.

Baseball bat is the murder weapon.  
Victim is thirty to thirty five years old. Brown thinning hair, green eyes, neatly trimmed finger and toe nails.  
Smartly dressed. Weighs eighty to ninety kilos, roughly one hundred and seventy centimetres in height.  
Room is tidy, no signs of break in or struggle. John bent down next to the body. Couldn't tell me anything knew, obviously.  
Bed made, shirts and pants neatly arranged in wardrobe, ladies handbag on dresser.  
Asked Lestrade where the second body was. He said there wasn't a second body. Asked him if the victim was a cross dresser. He asked me why I would ask that question. I said why would a man have a woman's handbag in his bedroom. Looked at me bewildered, obviously.  
Spilled contents of handbag on the bed.  
Perfume, packet of tissues, eyeliner, lipstick. Nothing else.  
Asked John and Lestrade what was missing from the handbag. Both couldn't answer, obviously.  
I answered for them. Purse, keys and phone. Essential for women to carry around in their handbag. None of these found in handbag.  
Had to note for later reference that other human brains can't quite work as fast as my own.  
Rubbed my temples for a bit.  
Told Anderson to shut up, again. Obviously.  
Went out on balcony, looked at the view. Looked downwards. Called Lestrade and Watson to join me on the balcony.  
Pointed to the dead woman who was lying on the roof below the balcony.  
Told Lestrade to tell his men that they are idiots.

Lightly jumped off the balcony with Lestrade and Watson to inspect the second body.  
Female, blonde hair, brown eyes, recently whitened teeth. Breath smells of alcohol.  
Weighs fifty to fifty five kilos, is roughly one hundred and seventy five centimetres tall.  
Looked back up at balcony, weigh too big a distance to jump on purpose, without help.  
Slim figure. Rather beautiful. Dressed casually, contusions to the head. Probably from falling and her head going splat on the roof.  
Once again, John could not tell me anything new, obviously.

Left the crime scene knowing where to go next . . . .  
Crap! I forgot Watson. Again. Obviously.


	2. The Lesser Details

I do not own Sherlock or any of the characters featured in/or contained in the series. Please review if you want another chapter.

The Science of Deduction

After realising my mistake, I went back for Watson.  
Found him sitting on a park bench across the road from the murder scene. He was glad to see me.  
Watson and I jumped into a taxi and on the way there I filled him in on the details.  
And this brings us to step two of the Science of Deduction:

#2 Take note of the lesser details.

I explained to John how I found the wedding ring in the dead man's pocket.  
He deduced that the man was married or had been married. Well done for John.  
Though it had crossed my mind as soon as I had picked it up, I realised how smaller brains couldn't cope as well as mine.  
Let's move on.  
Next clue was on the answering machine.  
While John had knelt down with Lestrade to examine the male body, I had found the last number message on the answering machine.  
I have only mentioned it now, because it fits with the category of lesser details, not major details.

The answering machine's message had been a woman's voice, the wife or ex-wife of the dead man.  
One day ago the message was received. All it read was; six thirty pm sharp, Bravia Cafe on Madison Street. And that was our next destination.  
We pulled up in the cab at the Bravia. By now, it was six o'clock.  
The perfect amount of time to scout out the place and watch for any newcomers.

Seventeen minutes into our stake out, a woman walked in and sat down at the corner table.  
I nudged John who was focused on his meal, obviously. I glided over to the corner table and the woman looked up startled.  
"Can I help you?"  
"Hello, Jansen Wickmeyer", I said, falsely, obviously, "I am your husband's lawyer", I said going out on a whim. "You wanted to speak about the divorce settlement".  
"Yes, why isn't David here?"  
Score one, victims name is David. I would have stuck around to here that from Lestrade but this wouldn't be as fun if I knew that already.  
"Yes, David. I'm sorry to say this, but your husband was beaten to death with a baseball bat in his house earlier today". Drop the bombshell and watch for the reaction of the people.  
She started crying, obviously.  
The tears seemed genuine.  
I would cut away at the false emotions as we talked.  
I asked her the obvious question next, do you know why anyone would do such a thing?  
Her answer was no, obviously. If she was the killer she wasn't going to let up that easy.  
"Can you tell me how they died?" And she tripped up. Too easy.  
Of course me knowing that I had never mentioned anything about another victim, clearly told me she had further knowledge to their deaths.  
So that was the question that screwed her up.  
"They? Well the police theories are that a burglar broke into his house and bashed him to death with a baseball bat, and the other victim tried to get away but fell from the balcony".  
I went along with her story, making sure that she didn't think I was on to her.  
We talked for a little bit longer before she had to leave urgently.

Went back to Watson at the table and told him everything. Case closed . . . or so I thought, obviously.


	3. The Key to Logic

I do not own Sherlock or any of the characters featured in/or contained in the series. Please review if you want another chapter. I want to see ten reviews or more for another chapter. Enjoy!

The Science of Deduction

With the wife's little accident on tape, I went to see Lestrade with Watson.  
Lestrade immediately sent a dispatch to collect her and bring her to the station.  
Lestrade received a phone call. He took it in the other room.  
Then he whisked us away to the home of the victim's wife. When we pulled up, we shockingly discovered that the victim's wife was now also a victim.

After studying the crime scene several times and telling Anderson to go away, I concluded that a baseball bat had been used to beat in the woman's head.  
I asked Lestrade who cleaned up the blood.  
He told me no one had.  
And thus brings us to step three of the Science of Deduction:

#3 Use logic to rule out the impossible and to find the certainties.

I told Watson and Lestrade, and the back of Anderson's head, that the victim was not killed here.  
She was beaten with a baseball bat, three, no four times over the head.  
Her body was dragged across the floor.  
A smell I had detected when I had walked into the room was a standard cleaning product.  
A trained eye could noticed smear marks on the wooden floors.  
I followed the smear marks out into the backyard.

The hose was on. I swiftly turned it off before it could wash away any evidence.  
The victim was watering the garden when the killer jumped the back fence, snuck up from behind and smashed her head in.  
More smear marks could be seen on the window above the plants from where the blood had splattered, obviously, and the killer had wiped down the mess.

I trailed the back garden.  
Luckily for me, the water hadn't sprayed onto the dirt and wiped away a crucial piece of evidence.  
A partial shoe print.  
I took out a ruler from my bag which contained all of my belongings needed to pursue a murder enquiry.  
A laptop, phone, keys, measuring equipment, my note pad and a pen.  
And most importantly, gloves.  
After John refused to let me take his laptop to murder scenes, I went out and brought my own.  
The shoe size was a nine.  
Trainers judging by the tread imprint in the soil.  
John and I snuck out through the side gate, knowing where to go next, obviously.

I knew where I had to go and with John right behind me, the game was afoot.


	4. The Dots to the Killer

I do not own Sherlock or any of the characters featured in/or contained in the series. Please review if you want another chapter. I want to see ten reviews or more for another chapter. Enjoy!

The Science of Deduction

Quickly ducked back to the lab.  
John spun around on a chair.  
I typed in a few enquiries on the computer. Found nothing much. Until . . . bingo.  
Left the lab hastily.  
Went back for John.  
Left the lab hastily with John this time. Jumped into a cab. Next destination, Thirty Three Sinclair Street.  
The house opposite the dead man's dead wife's house. What a mouthful.

And now to tell you the fourth step in the Science of Deduction:

#4 Link the dots and find the killer.

Rang the doorbell.  
Waited.  
Waited.  
Waited.  
Knocked on the door. Thirty five to forty year old man opened the door. Asked if I could come in.  
John caught up with me. The gentleman asked why. I answered that a death occurred across the street and we had some questions to ask.  
We entered the small house. Gentleman asked if we wanted a cup of tea. Kindly accepted the offer.  
"What are we doing here?" John leant over to me and whispered. The man was in the kitchen.

"I'm thirsty", I answered. "But seriously", I said leaning towards him, "I'm hoping this guy will confess to the murder".

"And who is he?"

"John Hargreaves".

"And who is that?"

"The man making us a cup of tea", I said mockingly. The conversation died as Mr. Hargreaves re-entered the room with the tea. "Hey hoe, look at the time John. We must be off", I said glaring at him and heading for the door. 

"What about the tea", Mr. Hargreaves said following us to the door.

"We will have to drink it another time. Come along John", I said as we left the house.

"What the hell was that Sherlock?"

"I will explain once we meet up with Lestrade. I hate explaining things twice". Walked over the road. Went into crime scene. Found Lestrade.

"Thank god. Tell me you have something good to tell me", he asked looking at me more than Watson, they always do.

"Your killer is across the street drinking his tea", I answered.

"What? You're joking aren't you?"

"Detective Lestrade, I never joke at a crime scene. The evidence is in plain sight, you just can't see it".

"What makes you think he is the killer Sherlock, we were there all but five minutes", this time John chimed in.

"John, John, John. It doesn't matter how much time you have in life, it's what you do with it that counts. While you were uselessly spinning around on your chair back at the lab I was on the computer. Two years ago, our first victim, David Chapman was pulling out of the driveway when he ran over John Hargreaves six year old boy. Two weeks ago, the Hargreaves boy's life support was turned off. Mrs. Hargreaves left Mr. Hargreaves because she blamed him. Now here comes the interesting part. Mr. Hargreaves went and killed Mr. Chapman out of rage for ruining his life", I explained.  
"Mr. Chapman's lady friend, tried to get away, but fell off the balcony to her untimely death. Mr. Hargreaves took the phone, wallet and the keys of the woman to make out it were a robbery gone bad".

"Then why did Mr. Hargreaves kill Mrs. Chapman"? John butted in.

"After Mr. Hargreaves had killed the two, he confessed to Mrs. Chapman out of guilt and explained why he had done this. Then she confessed that it was not Mr. Chapman who had ran over his boy, but her instead. Mr. Chapman taking the blame, hence the reason the Chapman's are separated. Knowing this, Mr. Hargreaves left, came back around the back and killed her".

"Wait a minute. This is conclusive. Is there any real hard facts?" Lestrade asked me.

"Just by looking at Mr. Hargreaves he is the exact height at which the bat came down on Mr. Chapman's head. He is left handed and the wounds on both the Chapman's heads were on the right side, meaning the attacker swung from the left and contacted their heads on the right. He has size eight feet and there was noticeable signs of dirt on his shoes. His house is one giant walking baseball museum and his clothes reek of cleaning products. Motive and means. And I am one hundred per cent certain you will find the stolen items in his possession".

And with that, Lestrade arrested the killer, found the items on him as well, and another case was closed.

For now . . . obviously.

**Unfortunately friends this is the end for the Science of Deduction story. Stay tuned for more Sherlock cases though! And review.**

**Next Sherlock Case out 12th of February, 2011**


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